My oh my what a wonderful time to be in Tennessee - I wish every last one of you could be here to see the amazing things Mother Nature is capable of! It's true most of the leaves have fallen from the trees and they now blanket the land for miles and miles. The November winds blow them round and round and no matter how much raking goes on, still they blow! I just get the biggest kick out of watching the people rake the leaves only to have them blow back up on them within minutes :) :) Why waste your time when you can be out in this beautiful weather doing something fun? Well, maybe raking leaves is fun for some folks? I didn't mind it at my house in FL but to even think of raking this yard would be a joke!
All we really need to do is throw some scratch feed out for the roosters and they'll rake all day until it's gone! LOL We threw some out in front of the horse stall and they cleared the path for us in two days - good boys! Since they are back home and sleeping in the tree in the front yard, we went ahead and bought them more feed to get them through the winter. They still don't care for Colt and Ruger but they know to seek higher ground when the boys are off the chain! For the first time I think I can say I now know what that saying means...lol!
Their growth spurt seems to have slowed a bit and Wally says that's because they're coming up on their one year birthday. We know they were born around Thanksgiving but we don't know the exact date. From what he says, they'll continue to still grow just not as fast as this first year. They're filling out too - not sure if that's because of colder weather or just natural for them? Either way - these guys are big and fast on their feet and a joy to watch when they're playing in the yard.
Smokey and Rebel have started to get their winter coats and they look fit as can be. The grass isn't as sweet now that it's colder outside so we get a visit from them every morning. They each get a scratch on the head and then two scoops of sweet feed. I'm not fooled into believing they come up for the scratch on the head... hahahahaha! I bring them carrot ends and scrapings and apple cores when I have them. They'll eat celery and squash hulls too. The only thing I've seen Rebel turn his nose up at is cabbage. He didn't care for it but Smokey ate it like there was no tomorrow :) :)
Smith is doing well all things considered. He still likes sleeping away his days on the sunlit porch and still gets up to hang out with us while Colt and Ruger run around the yard. He has no desire to join them but I imagine he's remembering him and his brother doing the same thing when they were that age. If dogs have memories, I'm sure his are good. He has only ever known this farm and probably has the woods memorized better than I ever will!! I've come a long way in a year and a half but there are 164 acres for me to learn so it's going to take some time LOL
If you've visited the flickr site, you've seen my baskets and my turnip casserole. I've been cooking up some pretty good stuff here lately. If only you could be here to feast on it with us... well, there's plenty of time for that :) I bought a bag of chicken leg quarters the other day and we decided to grill them after being on the 4 wheelers for 3-4 hours. I had already seasoned them and Wally was starting the grill while I made corn and honey/butter carrots to go with them.
Oops! The gas had leaked out of the grill and we had none - dang! It wasn't that big of a deal except for that I was now faced with cooking 10 lbs of chicken leg quarters in the oven. I've never done that before. I've cooked skinless, boneless, breasts in the oven, sure - but leg quarters? They were meant for the grill! Well I fitted them all into two big pans and covered them with foil. I set the temperature at 350 degrees and set the timer for one hour. I had no idea if they would be cooked, over-cooked or under-cooked. I was banking on under-cooked.
We went up on the deck to enjoy the remaining sunshine, before the temperatures outside started to drop, and our friends Steve and Sherri joined us. They had been out on the 4 wheelers with us so we invited them to stay for dinner. They did. So Wally tied a rope to the cooler handle and then tossed the rope up to the deck where I was waiting to catch it. Of course I didn't catch it, rather it bonked me on the head but either way, I was to hoist the cooler up so we could all hang out and drink a couple beers until dinner was ready.
It was a perfect late afternoon on the deck. The sun was warming us and though there was a cool breeze, it wasn't so cold as to force us inside for a good hour - which was convenient because that's exactly how much time I was hoping the chicken would take LOL We talked about our ride and planned to go to Hidden Valley Lakes the following day. When the sun dropped behind the cabin, we made our way back inside and as soon as I opened the door, the buzzer on the oven went off.
Talk about good timing! I pulled the chicken out and stabbed one piece in the thigh to see if the juices would run clear. Guess what??? They did!! LOL I honestly thought they would need more time but the one hour was perfect. The chicken rested for about 15 minutes while I finished up the carrots, peas and corn. I had no idea if our guests were picky about what they ate so I figured I better put up a few offerings so everyone had something to choose from. Good thing I did too because apparently some people are not big fans of peas and carrots like I am hahahahahaha The corn was gone but I still had a few carrots left and plenty of peas LOL!
Now this chicken is exactly the kind of chicken that Dizzy Debbie would try to eat the skin off of everyone's piece. It came out super crispy and super flavorful. All I used to season it was McCormick's Chicken Seasoning and a little garlic powder. I didn't cover it in the oven so maybe that's why it was crispy - not sure - like I said, this was my first attempt. It was really good and even I was impressed. Those old leg bones just slipped right out and left the meat in tact. Perfect! For those of you who are wondering, we did give the bones to the dogs and they never blinked an eye - just gobbled them right up! So much for worrying about them choking - not these guys! lol
I'll have to make it for Dizzy next time she comes up because she can't be trusted to cook anything without burning it - this according to her! She says her kids like blackened everything hahahahahahahaha! Guess they're just used to it that way :)
I have an abundance of fresh-from-the-garden turnips so I made the turnip casserole again. Do you remember the Justin Wilson recipe I wrote about last year? Well, anyway...As I said on the flickr photos, it's basically turnips, cheese, onions and seasonings all layered in a casserole dish. Thanks to Beverly I have one of those handy slicer things so it made short work of slicing the turnips and onions. Best of all they come out the same size every time! Love it! You do have to mix up a few eggs, salt, pepper and just a touch of hot sauce but once that has been poured over everything, you set it in the oven and let it go.
The top and sides get all crunchy and the middle stays cheesy and softened - almost like a lasagna after it sits in the fridge for a day... mmmm it was so good, we ate it before it cooled! I don't even remember what kind of meat we had with it LOL hahahahaha I still have a few turnips left so I'm planning to prepare them like mashed potatoes - I'll have to let you know how they turn out.
There are only two more baskets left for this year and in one we're going to get a pound of Jacob's grass-fed ground beef. He is the son of the farmer who provides me with my veggie CSA basket every week and he is going to start his own Beef CSA next year. It works pretty much the same as the veggie CSA except you get beef instead. Or in addition to...
So to get their customers interested, the farmers are including a pound of beef in our baskets this next week coming up. I can't wait!! You know me and my hamburger fetish, well, this will be a delightful taste test for me! Jacob is not even in his 20s yet and he not only helps on the farm with tons of chores, he also helps with the building of their house (yes, they're all 4 still in the camper), is a volunteer fire-fighter for Centerville and now he's raising his own cattle to boot! His parents must surely be proud of that boy!
I've been thinking about writing a little story about my farmers over there at Beaver Dam Creek Farm and sending it to the local paper. They could use some publicity and you never know - maybe it would drum up some more business for them if I did??? They work so hard to provide good food to their customers and I can only imagine what goes into running the farm. Any little bit helps, right?
I guess it's time to move on to the subject of Thanksgiving. For me Thanksgiving is a day of being in the kitchen, cooking up tried and true recipes, watching football and hanging out with family and friends. We're expecting just a few people but I'm planning to cook lots of food. No one goes home without leftovers - except of gravy because there just simply is never enough turkey gravy to go around no matter what I do. LOL
I'm going to cook a big turkey and a smaller ham. We'll have green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, home-made sour dough bread, barley stuffing and maybe some of my canned turnip greens. Maybe a sugar free pie for dessert - mmm I'm making myself hungry!! Of course I'll save the turkey carcass and boil it down the next day. There's always room for turkey and rice, turkey soup with stuffing dumplings and everyone's favorite - the turkey sandwich!! If you aren't going to use your turkey drippings, I'd appreciate you freezing them and saving them for me... hahahahaha I could use them for soup come January :) :) :)
Whatever your plans are for food and fun, remember our service men and women who are taking care to ensure our safety every day and night while we go about our business without a care in the world.
Tell me how you're planning to spend the day, I'd love to hear all about it! Oh and by the way, GOOOOOOOOOOO PACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol - sorry, couldn't resist!!
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